Ball and socket coupling



July 29, 1952 l M. E. SMITH 2,605,115

BALL AND SOCKET COUPLING Filed Oct. 7, 1949 wil /Il I7 2 If w Ic/zwenZ'oz WZerZe 63222222 Patented July 29, 1952 UNITED STATES 1 Claim.1

This invention relates to hitches and more specifically to hitches usedon the rear end of automobiles for attaching trailers, trailer houses,wagons and like.

The employment of hitches for such purposes is very old. However, thechief difliculties experienced with most such hitches are that they arenot positive in locked position, are difiicult to uncouple, and do notpossess an unsplit socket bearing directly to the rear of the connectingball.

Therefore, one of my principal objects is to provide a positive lockinghitch and one that may be easily and quickly coupled or uncoupled.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hitch that can besecured to a vehicle such as an automobile, tractor or the like and thatis constructed so as to prevent any accidental release of the trailer orthe like that is hitched thereto.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hitch that can beeasily and quickly attached to or detached from a trailer or the like.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a trailer hitchthat is simple in construction and efiicient in operation.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, ar-

rangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of this hitch shown secured to the rearsupporting surface of a tractor vehicle and further showing in positionthe hitch bar of a vehicle to be towed,

Fig. 2 is a top view of the hitch of Fig. 1 with the dotted linesindicating the position to which one of the bar members is slidable,

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of this device taken on the line 33 ofFig. 2 and showing the hitch bar locked in place,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of this device taken on the line 4-5 ofFig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of this device similar to that of Fig.3 but showing the position of the hitch when it is unlocked and thehitch bar is removed.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral It) to designate asupport member to which my hitch is secured. This support member may bethe frame or bumper of an automobile, a portion of a tractor frame orthe like. The

numeral l designates a rectangular housing having an open top. Thebottom of the housing II is secured to the support member H) as shown inFig.1. The numerals l2 and i3 respectively designate adjacent barmembers with each member provided with a centrally positionedsemicircular transverse groove or cut away portion Hi and lfirespectively which are complementary to each other to form a ballsocket. The side of the bar member 12 opposite the groove I4 is providedwith the outwardly extending bulge portion H5. The numeral ll designatesa stop bar member having the projecting arm portion [8 on one end andthe hook member It on the other end, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. Thebar members :2, l3 and Il are positioned within the housing H with thebar l3 towards the rear, the bar It adjacent the bar !2 and the stop barI? at the front of the housing adjacent the bar [2. Each of the bars l2,l3 and Il are held in place within the housing H by means of the spacedapart shaft bolts and nuts 20 and 2|, as shown in Fig. 2. The bar I2 isslidable on the shafts 20 and 2| as indicated by the dotted lines inFig. 2. The bottom of the right side of the stop bar I? is provided withthe slot 22 that is designed to rest on the shaft bolt 29 as shown inFig. 3. The arm E8 of the stop bar I1 is hingeably arranged on the shaftbolt 2! so that the stop bar ll can be raised at times to the positionshown in Fig. 5.

A catch member 23 provided with a hook portion 24 is pivotally securedto the right side of the front of the housing H so that the hook 24 iscapable of engaging the book 19 on the stop bar ll, as shown in Fig. 3.A coil spring 25 is secured at one end to the top of the catch 23 and atits other end to the top edge of the front of the housing It so thattension of the spring will normally hold the hook 26 in engagement withthe hook I9, as shown in Fig. 3.

The numeral 26 designates a hitch arm designed to be secured to atrailer or the lure. The free end of the hitch bar 26 is bevelledinwardly to form the reduced portion 2? to which there is secured theball member 28.

When this device is constructed and arranged as described it willoperate in the following manner:

To prepare this hitch for receiving the hitch arm of any vehicle to betowed, the top of the catch 28 is manually pushed laterally toward theright of the housing H to disengage the hooks 2 3 and it. When this isdone the stop bar ll can be manually raised to the position shown inFig. thus making it possible to slide the bar I2 forwardly and thusenlarge the opening formed by the adjacent grooves I4 and I5.

The ball portion 28 on the free end of the hitch arm 26 can then beplaced in the well formed by the grooves I4 and I5 in the bars I2 and I3respectively.

Due to the slidable fetaure of bar I2, the ball 28 can easily be placedin position since ample room is provided so that it is not necessary tosteer the ball portion into or onto any unduly restricted area orsurface. Another advantage of this hitch is that ball hitches of varyingsizes can be locked in place Without danger of coming loose. After theball portion is in position the bar I2 is moved toward the bar I3 andthe stop bar I1 is dropped into place on the pin 20 where the hooks 24and I9 will engage each other as previously described. As the stop barI! is dropped it will contact the bulge portion I6 01 the bar I2 andbecause of the rounded surface of the bulge portion this contact willcause the bar I2 to move toward the bar I3. In this posi-- tion thegrooves I4 and I5 provide a nesting place or socket for the ball 28 asshown in Fig. 4 and the outer edge of the bulge portion IS on the bar I2is in contact with the stop bar [1. Thus arranged the bar I2 isincapable of moving and the hitch arm is securely locked in place. Thecatch 23 is sufficient to hold the stop bar I! in place and any forcefrom the ball 28 against the bar I2 is taken by the stop bar ll so thatit is impossible for the hitch arm to be accidentally jarred loose. Toremove the hitch arm, the procedure above described for inserting it isrepeated.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my hitchwithout departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, andit is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structureor use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included Withintheir scope.

I claim:

In a hitch, a rectangular frame that is adapted to be secured to avehicle, a pair of spaced parallel. shafts each having one of theirrespective ends secured to one side of said frame and the other of theirrespective ends secured in the other side of said frame, a first blockon said shafts and abutting said other side of said frame, a secondblock slidably mounted on said shafts adjacent to said first block; saidfirst and second blocks having complementary cut-out half socketportions in their adjacent sides, a third block rotatably secured to oneof said shafts to selectively limit and free the movement of said secondblock, and a releasable catch means to secure said third block in itssecond block limiting position.

MERLE EDWIN SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,166,738 Bradley July 18, 19392,435,019 Scott Jan. 27, 1948

